Osprey Print Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

As a newbie, I made a classic mistake...I didn't have good goggles. I bought my husband new ones but decided I would just wear the annoying ones we have at the pool. Sure enough, they fogged up before the first bouy. I couldn't see, was drinking alot of water and people were running in to me (and I them) so I started to panic a little. Finally I put them up on my swim cap and switched to breatstroke. Since I was going directly into the current (and I'm a mouth breather), I swallowed alot of the Chincoteague. It was nasty but I did it.

One other comment... I was going to do the swim without a wetsuit until a friend gave me one of his to borrow. I figured if I can do polar bear plunges, I could do this. Boy was I thankful for the wetsuit.

Buy good goggles!

I ran from the water to my bike and had my set unzipped, goggle/swim cap off but I could have pulled my arms out of the wetsuit too and forgot. Also, I had to put on short and a shirt because I only had a bathingsuit under the wetsuit.

Suck it up and get a tri suit so I have less changing to do.

I held back on the bike because I knew I would have some difficulty with the bike-run transition. I passed a bunch of people and only a handful passed me. Of course, I was the next to the last wave so there wouldn't be many people behind me ;)

I wish I would have left it all out on the road. Since this was my first tri, I was confident that my legs would hold up. Next year, I plan to go hard.

I also would bring a water bottle next time instead of a gatorade bottle. I didn't drink at all on the bike because I forgot to open the gatorade bottle and I knew I would run into a ditch if I tried.

I had to drink some gatorade because I still had the taste o' chincoteague in my mouth. I put on a hat and my running shoes and hit the road.

I started jogging in the transition area and had to take baby steps in the beginning...for about the first half mile. After my husband passed me, I picked it up so that I could keep him in my sights as motivation. I tried to drink at water station while running and snorted the water up my nose (why can't I run and drink at the same time?) so I passed on other water stations.

I talked the whole last mile with another runner. I probably could have run faster if I had shut my trap :)

Lots of smiling! I was psyched that I did my first triathlon. I waited for a few other people in my group to finish and stood at the finish line cheering on the stragglers who looked like they need support.


The only thing that limited me was my confidence. I could have gone stronger if I had known what I can do. Next time, I will do much better :)


I would strongly recommend the Osprey Sprint to anyone. Beginners will feel a great sense of accomplishment. Veterans will probably get PR. I loved going in to Ocean City afterwards and eating Thrasher fries and watching people. There was also a wine festival going on.